By Freedom New Mexico It’s unlikely President Bush will do much harm during his current trip through the Middle East, even though he does look a bit like an emperor making a ceremonial visit to the provinces. In some ways it is admirable seeing him trying to make an impression on a part of the […]

Today we gather with family and friends, share gifts and meals, maybe go out for a movie, maybe cruise and enjoy Christmas decorations around town. May we all experience peace. May our faith move mountains. May the unbounded potential of love be unleashed in our lives and hearts. And may the story recorded in the […]

By Freedom New Mexico If anybody has a right to have developed a bitter attitude toward the Iranian regime and perhaps even to have decided there’s just no talking to those people, it would be Ali Shakeri. Shakeri is the Iranian-American businessman who was snatched out of the Tehran airport more than four months ago […]

Editorial It seems as if every American president has to make one last, desperate attempt to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and it’s easy to see why. Former President Carter has been using those Camp David meetings that eventually led to a peace — it turned out to be a “cold peace,” but at least it’s […]

By Curtis K. Shelburne: Religion columnist My wife is a very patient woman. That must be obvious—she married me. And, four sons later, a mother either learns patience or she doesn’t survive. My wife is able to take almost anything in stride. When she was appointed as our town’s municipal judge, and I gave […]

By Clyde Davis: Columnist Anna Jarvis, who between the years of 1908 and 1914 negotiated the path for making Mother’s Day a national holiday, is frequently recognized as the founder of this holiday. Beginning with an attempt to honor her own mother, the idea spread — and was fueled — by her efforts to have […]

After years of dormancy, moves toward a peace settlement between Israel and Palestine are appearing on several fronts. The Iraq Study Group report contends that an Israeli-Palestinian settlement is essential to a reasonable outcome in Iraq, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has traveled to the region and vowed to step up support for Palestinian […]

By Mona Charen: Syndicated Columnist Having scolded the Western world for its “inordinate fear of communism,” Jimmy Carter is now, 30 years later, attempting to legitimize the shameful Zionism Equals Racism resolution passed and later repealed by the United Nations. The man has a seemingly unerring instinct for error. “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” is touted […]

By Kevin Wilson: CNJ staff writer As a resident of a community with a strong military presence, I’ve often heard, “Freedom isn’t free.” It’s a notion that we sometimes have to sacrifice for our way of life, and it makes sense. As a reader of current events, I’m coming to fear something else. Apparently in […]

By Freedom Newspapers The words “traitor” and “treason” are sometimes used rather loosely in common parlance, applied to anything from criticizing the current administration’s policies in impolite terms to actually taking up arms in a foreign army at war with the United States. The U.S. Constitution, however, is much more explicit and limited in its […]

By Curtis Shelburne: Religion columnist So . . . “what’s so amazing about grace?” The whole universe is not large enough to contain the wonderful answer, but maybe part of the answer is found in comparing grace and what has been called “ungrace,” grace’s ugly opposite. Ungrace says, “You are what you produce.” Grace says, […]

By Ned Cantwell: State columnist One of the perks of writing a state column is so many readers are most generous with their advice. It is only minimally disconcerting that oft times such advice has to do with anatomical direction, pinpointing that area where I might “stick it.” Some of the advice, though, is so […]

By Ned Cantwell: State columnist Mark your calendar for September. New Mexico will stage her first World Peace Conference. Ever. And who better to host the event than Santa Fe, the epicenter of intellectual snobbery? Exciting. I can see it now. The Dixie Chicks will set the stage with the conference theme song, “Not Ready […]

Samplings of recent calls received by Clovis-area law enforcement officers, according to reports: About 8:30 a.m. May 11, an officer was called to Clovis Community College about a missing laptop valued at more than $1,400. The laptop was signed out by a person who was not a student and provided a false cell-phone number. • […]

By Curtis K. Shelburne I haven’t read from the King James Version of the Bible for years, and it’s never been my main version for preaching. As beautiful as the language can be, I’ve never thought it was good stewardship for me to take time in the pulpit to explain words that in a more […]

Freedom Newspapers The human impulse is to hope that he survives and has years of restful peace remaining. Whether that happens or not, however, the serious stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is likely to be a setback to hopes for Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. And for a time, at least, it will throw Israeli […]

By Capt. (Chaplain) Mark McKellen If you are in debt and are having trouble making ends meet, what do you do? Get another credit card? How about attending a program called Financial Peace University? FPU was founded by Dave Ramsey who was a multi-millionaire in his mid-20’s while working in the real estate business. His […]

By Curtis K. Shelburne: CNJ religion columnist Well, my oldest son is now officially engaged. This is the young man who not that many moons ago allowed as how he sort of doubted he’d ever be much interested in marriage. I don’t remember exactly the way he phrased it, but I took him to mean […]

Freedom Newspapers Given the history, it is generally wise to be skeptical about signs that might portend a breakthrough toward peace, or even nonhostile co-existence between Israel and Palestine. Nonetheless a move by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to challenge powerful militant Palestinian groups is a sign that might be worth noting. It is important […]

By Gary Mitchell: CNJ columnist Editor’s note: Amos is a church mouse, who types by hopping on the computer keyboard, but he can’t operate the capital shift keys, and he shuns punctuation marks – except dashes and hyphens. one hectic day boss i may have mentioned this before but life ain t easy under a […]